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Erik Cole tells The Montreal Gazette there is no instant cure for what one reporter described as Michael Cammalleri’s little slump.

At a time when the Canadiens are in desperate need of scoring, Cammalleri goes into Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with only one goal in his last 12 games. With six goals in 29 games, he’s on pace for a 16-goal season.

“When I’m not scoring goals, I need to be doing other things,” said Cole, who went seven games without a goal to start the season, but now leads the team with 13. “The important thing is to create opportunities. You’re not always going to score on your opportunities, but if you’re getting chances and getting your looks, you can take positives from that and build confidence.

“If you’re not scoring and you’re not getting chances or creating chances for other guys then you really have to take a look and say: ‘I need to be better,’ ” Cole said. “I don’t think that’s been the case with Mike. I think he’s had some real good looks and, for whatever reason, it hasn’t gone in for him. Maybe it’s because he’s a well-known goal-scorer and teams pay more attention to him. Teams study up on things like that and look for tendencies. I think he’ll be fine. He just needs to do the right things.”

There have been suggestions from the coaching staff that Cammalleri hasn’t been doing the right things in terms of getting to the dirty areas, but head coach Randy Cunneyworth was pleased with Cammalleri’s performance Monday in a 3-2 loss in Boston.

“He’s working hard in a lot of areas and he was committed,” Cunneyworth said after Cammalleri fired five shots on goal.

“I don’t think he’s overly frustrated,” Cole said. “There are times he’ll come back to the bench and say ‘Aw, man, I should have had that one,’ but he continues to go out there and get chances. He just needs to get that one because they come in bunches.”

Peter Budaj will get a rare start against the Blackhawks, his fifth of the season, while Carey Price will play in Winnipeg when the Canadiens wrap up their pre-Christmas road trip.

"It’s a good test, but it’s not about head-to-head, it’s about whole team against team," Pavel Datsyuk told Michigan Live of his line's potential match-up against the Sedin twins and Alexandre Burrows. "They had lots of talent (for several years) but now they have depth. It’s tough to play against skill, but it’s tougher to play against a complete team."

Lidstrom, on defending the Sedins: "It’s not a secret what they’re trying to do, it’s just hard to defend against it. They’re so good at finding each other, throwing passes behind their backs, and have a knack of finding the back of the net. You got to try to contain them to the outside."

Datsyuk, on Kesler's Selke win last season, which ended Datsyuk's three-year run: "He 100 percent deserved it. Good player, good on faceoffs, good on defense, he’s always tough around net, tough for defensemen.

"Every year he gets better and better, more experience, stronger and stronger. Tougher to play against him, and his team, too."

The Toronto Star relays that Leaf winger Colby Armstrong’s attempt to conceal his concussion met with warnings from other NHL players, but his actions didn’t surprise his teammates.

“No, not at all . . . I feel bad for him,” said goalie James Reimer. “He’s been injury-ridden for a while and this is just a bad break for him.

“Army hates being out so it doesn’t surprise me. Some people might say it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but Army has a huge heart so it doesn’t surprise me. He loves his team.”

Armstrong suffered a concussion Saturday night against Vancouver, but practised with the team Sunday. At first, he didn’t report his symptoms to the team’s medical staff, but was forced to do so Monday when his condition worsened.

Armstrong was placed on injured reserve and will be out indefinitely.

“No, it didn’t surprise me, Army battles all the time,” centre Tyler Bozak said. “He’s been out a lot so he didn’t want to get hurt again. It’s good he finally came forward, but it was a heat-of-the-moment thing. You get bumped on the head sometimes and you don’t even think about it.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that Penguins winger Tyler Kennedy shook his head Tuesday when told about former teammate Colby Armstrong and his concussion story.

When he was with the Penguins, Armstrong was close friends with Sidney Crosby , whose concussion problems over the past year have been widely chronicled.

Kennedy, who missed a month earlier this season because of a concussion, said that for all the awareness about the dangers of concussions, players still can feel pressure to play.

"You can understand where he's coming from. He wants to play. He feels like he has to play," Kennedy said of Armstrong. "It's like a mental battle, but in the end you've got to make the right decision for yourself.

"The No. 1 thing is your health. You can't forget that. He's got to remember that you will be done with hockey eventually, and you want to make sure you can still think for yourself."

The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that Flyers winger Jaromir Jagr would have been in Monday’s shootout rotation if it went longer, coach Peter Laviolette said.

The Flyers lost to Colorado, 3-2.

Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk scored in the shootout, and Matt Read fired a shot off the crossbar.

“I haven’t taken a penalty shot in the last six years,” Jagr said.

Did he want to shoot Monday?

“I’ve never been a player who says, ‘Bleep, coach, bleeping put me on ice, I’m bleeping going to score.’ That’s not me,” he said with a laugh.

The Tampa Tribune indicates that wearing a full metal cage attached to his helmet, Marty St. Louis stepped onto the ice Tuesday at HP Pavilion to practice with his teammates for the first time since being hit in the face by a puck.

It was a small victory, considering how frightening the injury looked when it happened and how close it came to damaging to his vision.

"All said and done, if you had told me I'd be skating 12 days after it happened, I would have paid for that," said St. Louis, whose nose was broken and orbital bone fractured. "So, I count my blessings that I'm able to be out there right now."

St. Louis, 35, was hurt on Dec. 8 during a morning skate at Madison Square Garden in New York when an errant puck struck him near the left eye, ending his consecutive games played streak at 499.

No timetable has been set for his return, but St. Louis, tied for second on the team with 22 points, took part in every drill and worked with the top power-play unit toward the end of practice. He did not wear the red practice jersey that normally specifies an injured player.

While the door was not closed on a possible return to the lineup tonight when Tampa Bay faces San Jose, head coach Guy Boucher is not expecting St. Louis to play in either of the final two games before Christmas — tonight and Friday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. We want to let him ease into what he feels that he can do and where he is going to go,'' Boucher said. "So, we'll see. But it's good that he's getting himself back into shape and getting better every day, so that's a good sign.''

After going through the 75-minute practice, St. Louis said everything felt good on the ice and he did not encounter any vision problems, though he did require eye drops at one point late in practice. He handled the speed of the practice without incident.

"This is the first time in 12 days that I'm put in hockey situations with NHL level of play,'' said St. Louis, who began working out on Friday. "It wasn't easy, but I was very encouraged with how I felt out there.''

The Chicago Tribune recalls how at the time, it appeared certain the Blackhawks' Brent Seabrook would miss time — and perhaps a significant amount — after leaving Sunday night's game against the Flames with an injury.

Instead, the defenseman was back at it Tuesday night when the Hawks faced the Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center. Rebounding quickly from an illegal hit from the Flames' Rene Bourque, Seabrook said he's "feeling fine" and never lost consciousness when he crashed face-first into the boards before crumpling to the ice.

"I remember the whole thing," Seabrook said. "I got hit and heard Bourque say right away he was sorry. I couldn't get up so I put my head down and everybody seemed to think I was knocked out. I felt like I held my weight pretty good."

Seabrook said removing him from Sunday's game after the hit was precautionary, especially with the knowledge the veteran has missed time on three occasions with concussions.

"It was the doctor's call," Seabrook said. "I said I wasn't out, I said I felt fine and I could go back out there."

Bourque and Seabrook were teammates with the Hawks, and the Flames winger, who was suspended two games for the hit, said he is grateful there wasn't a significant injury.

"The important thing for me is that (Seabrook) is all right and he knows I didn't mean to hurt him," Bourque told reporters in Calgary. "I felt pretty bad. I went and talked to him during the third period just to make sure he was all right and to say sorry. He accepted my apology."

Mark Letestu is versatile enough to play any position on any forward line, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Letestu has been a utility man for the Blue Jackets since arriving in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 8. He can grind with the third line or, as he did on Sunday during a loss to St. Louis, skate with scorers Jeff Carter and Vinny Prospal.

But Letestu, surprisingly, has made his greatest contributions on the power play. Four of his five goals have come with a man advantage. He is the Blue Jackets’ unlikely leader in power-play goals.

“He’s a smooth player,” captain Rick Nash said. “He’s got a great one-timer, a great shot. He’s controlled and perfect to play on the power play.”

Letestu, in his second NHL season, is a smart player with a nose for the net. But he needs to develop even-strength consistency to become a top-six regular. He has scored one even-strength goal in 19 games with the Blue Jackets.

“He has good hockey instincts,” coach Scott Arniel said. “I think Mark has to get his 5-on-5 game going. I think that it is an area he can be stronger. He needs to make sure he’s as hungry as he is on the power play, doing all the little things well.”

Letestu said he was happy to be traded from the contending Penguins to the last-place Blue Jackets.

“I think they’re trying to find a home for me,” he said. “I’ve been in the middle, I’ve been on the wing, I’ve tried the point on the power play. Anywhere they find a spot for me to be able to help this team is fine with me. I’m happy to be here. I want to win. If that would mean me playing goal, I’ll play goal.”

Arniel said the constant shuffle of lines and positions has hampered Letestu. Despite the top line’s combined minus-11 rating against St. Louis, Arniel will likely keep Letestu with Prospal and Carter for a game on Thursday at Nashville.

“Maybe putting him just on the right side here will allow him to show his skill,” Arniel said. “He and Vinny and (Carter), they didn’t get rewarded but they had an awful lot of opportunities the other night.”

ESPN Dallas writes that the time off to heal up from some injuries is paying dividends for Stars captain Brenden Morrow.

Since returning to action after sitting out for two weeks, Morrow has registered four goals and three assists in six games. In his 20 games before the time off, he had three goals and six assists.

“Pucks are going in for me and I am getting more opportunities. The body is feeling better and I’ve got a little bit more jump,” said Morrow. “I am getting to the areas I want to a little quicker.”

In late November, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said they were going to give Morrow some time to get healthy since he was dealing with knee, elbow and back issues. The Stars wanted Morrow to get back to 100 percent.

“When he was sitting out this is what we wanted to transpire today – we’ve got a healthy captain back,” Gulutzan said. “We kind of stumbled around without him and in the beginning he wasn’t playing full capacity, he was 70 percent. To have him back and playing his game has been a huge lift for our group.”

Morrow is playing with Mike Ribeiro and Steve Ott.

The article also notes that Stars forward Adam Burish will return to the lineup Wednesday, on the fourth line, after missing the last 15 games with a broken hand.

"I am ready to go. Felt good today. I saw the doctor last night, so everything checked out,” Burish said after Tuesday’s practice in Frisco. “I'm excited. Practicing is fun, hanging out with the guys in the locker room again is fun. It feels like the first game of the season again.”

Richard Bachman will make his sixth straight start in Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Bachman is 4-1-0 with a 2.25 goals against average and a .924 save percentage in six appearances since being called up from the AHL due to an injury to Kari Lehtonen.

Bachman is coming off a solid 25-save performance against Anaheim Monday. It was a good bounce back performance for Bachman, who gave up six goals on 31 shots in Friday’s loss to New Jersey.

"I think as a young guy trying to get his foot in the NHL and establish himself, I think it’s important to have that kind of game,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “I had him in Austin and if he had a subpar game he always bounced back. He’s a real resilient guy. He’s a battler and that’s his strength. “

The Los Angeles Times reports that Kings center Mike Richards continues to progress, skating with his teammates for three days in a row on the just-completed trip. Richards, who has been out because of a head injury since Dec. 1, has not yet been cleared to play, although he is scheduled to be evaluated in Los Angeles this week.

"I'm hoping any time now, I guess," Richards said Monday in Toronto. "It's just a matter more or less of getting myself back in shape and feeling comfortable on the ice. Obviously, I don't want to come back too soon."

Remi: "Hey Chris, love your blog, read it all the time.

Pool dynamics (non-keeper rotisserie - 11 teams - 3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 4Bench): G, A, PIM, PPP, GWG, SOG, FW, Hits, BLK, W, S%, SO

Team: Datsyuk, Ribiero, Hanzel / Benn, Couture, Doan / Backes, Hejduk, Vrbata / S.Weber, Wisniewski, Hamonic, Burns, Ehrhoff, Visnovsky / Bryzgalov, Khabibulin Bench: Ryan Whitney, Little, G - Crawford, Montoya

Quick fantasy question for you. I'm doing quite well in the peripheral categories, but I am struggling a little in G, A, and PPP department, and as you can imagine, it is hard to acquire elite talent.

Potential trade offer: Doan for Semin

I am debating making this trade because there nothing to suggest Semin gets out of his funk. But if he does, he can have elite production. I know you've commented on Semin this season, but is he worth the acquisition and bench spot IF he breaks out (maybe with a new coach)?

Thanks for time Chris, I know it must be busy this time of year. Merry Christmas."

Chris: Merry Christmas to you too Remi, thanks.

I think you had the key point of your submission when you said that there's nothing to suggest Semin will get out of this funk. Maybe it's a good sign that he has goals in back-to-back games now, but given his whole season so far it's a stretch to say he'll likely go on a hot streak now. I hope he does and goal scorers can get hot quickly, but it's not even like he's firing three or four shots on net each game.

I normally have this guy's back when most don't. This year he is just frustrating the hell out of me. It's not that he's done nothing, but he is playing below the level where he normally plays... which is still below the truly elite guy he should be in the NHL.

In terms of points, I'd be ok with making a Doan/ Semin swap just to put a couple of chips down on the table and gamble that Semin and Ovechkin both come back with good second halves. The problem for you is that you'd be losing Doan's hits. That makes me much less likely to want to deal him away overall and I'd be more inclined to just stand pat.

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.